Overview
- Tapia and the Argentine Football Association lost their appeal Thursday after the Economic Appeals Court said their filings came in late, so the judges will not consider their arguments.
- The ruling does not automatically confirm their indictments, but the panel will now rule on the other defendants’ appeals and any relief for them could extend to Tapia.
- Judge Diego Amarante had indicted Tapia, AFA treasurer Pablo Toviggino, and other executives in late March over alleged late deposits of payroll taxes and social security funds totaling about 19.3 billion pesos, and ordered 350 million–peso asset freezes and travel bans.
- Tapia can still ask the Federal Cassation Court to let him file an appeal out of time, while a separate federal probe into alleged money laundering is now led by Judge José Manuel Díaz Vélez, assigned by lot in Tucumán late last week.
- The Justice Ministry’s corporate watchdog has also begun an oversight of AFA finances despite an AFA appeal, with court-appointed reviewers seeking records on big contracts and links to TourProdEnter LLC, agent Javier Faroni, and Sur Finanzas as reports cite scrutiny of large U.S.-bound transfers.